Buildings with large areas of glass, especially solar heated houses with two-story glass windows facing in a southerly direction, present a number of problems in maintaining rooms comfortable while saving energy. One problem is that the rooms behind the glass wall may collect too much sunshine and heat to an uncomfortable level. Another problem is that too much heat may flow back out through the panes on cloudy days and cold nights. Another problem is that buildings having two-story tall areas of solar glass usually have behind this transparency a large two-story tall space in which the upper half is completely useless for human activity, even though it costs much money to enclose.
Past attempts to solve these problems have failed to meet simultaneously all of the following desirable conditions: thick insulation, light weight, tight coverage, easy movability, translucency, and useful yet economical architectural space. Also, without meeting those conditions, the concept of a house as a live-in solar collector is largely unworkable.
Accordingly, the principal object of the invention is to solve these problems presented by large areas of glass in a building, and especially by discomfort when the sun is shining and loss of heat energy when it is not.
A specific object of the invention is to provide a thermal barrier between a large window glass area and the inside of the building which meets all of the desirable conditions--thick insulation, light weight, tight coverage, easy movability, translucency, and efficient architecture.
Still another object of the invention is to provide such a thermal barrier which can be added to existing buildings.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide such a thermal barrier at a cost which is advantageous when savings in equipment, energy and usable space are taken into account.